Chapter 26

Mattie POV

I had my arms crossed and looked away as we sat in the garden on the patio and chair set. Alice was clinging to Lorina and they were talking non-stop as they cried on each other. My new bother-in-law/ex-boyfriend sat across from me.

"Martha, I'm glad you're back home." He said with a smile and I looked up at his handsome face. He was a Blood doppelgänger and I used to swoon and be sad inside whenever I looked at him, but now I'm okay. I sighed as I put my hands on the table and stood up. The maids shoved on a dress identical to Alice's on me and I hated every second of it.

"Oh? Where are you doing dear?" Lorina asked in her usual soft voice.

"I'm going to change out of this stupid dress then I'm going to go with my friends." I said walking away.

"But Martha! You just got back, spend time with us!" Lorina called to me and I turned to look at her with a cold stare.

"No thank you." I said with an edge to my voice as I ran inside. I sprinted to my room and tore off the stupid dress. I pulled on some black skinny jeans, my white converse, a white under shirt, and a baby blue knitted sweater that was low on my shoulders and the sleeves were just a bit too long. I sighed sadly as I pulled my hair up into a pony tail and walked out. I ignored Lorina's calls as I walked through our gate and onto the road. I made the trek to Elizabeth's house and walked right in. I went to the tree where our treehouse from so long ago still stood and climbed the familiar make-shift ladder.

"I'm telling you! I talked to her just a few days ago!" I could hear her voice.

"Are you serious? Then why hasn't she been answering today?" I heard James ask.

"Probably because I'm here to see you two." I said making my presence known as I climbed into the little room. Their eyes widened and I blinked. "What's up?" I asked and they tackled me to the floor and almost threw us out of the tree house. They were screaming and crying and squeezing me as tightly as they could. "Ow, easy there." I said sitting up and they let me go to wipe their faces. I smiled as I saw them. Elizabeth was a tanned and petite girl. She had short brown hair in a pixie cut and hazel eyes with green specks in them. She was really loud and fun but could also be serious and scary. Then there's James. He's tall, just a bit shorter than Elliot, and a pretty pale. He had shoulder platinum blond hair with side bangs and dark blue eyes with pale blue specks in them he had his ears pierced with little rings in them. He's loving and just a huge sweetheart but terrifying when upset. They were my childhood friends ever since I could remember.

"Are you really here?" Liz whispered and I smiled a bit sadly.

"Yeah, I'm definitely here." I said sitting cross legged between them. They held my hands and I smiled as I leaned back.

"Where were you?" James whispered. I sighed as I leaned my head back.

"I don't know myself, it was really crazy. The people there called it Wonderland and The Country of Hearts. It was like nothing I could've imagined. There was a clock tower where a man named Julius fixed clocks that people had instead of hearts, a giant amusement park where a punk furry-cat guy guy named Boris and a middle aged man named Gowland lived, a big castle where a beautiful queen named Vivaldi lived with Ace the knight of hearts and Peter the furry-bunny prime minister. Then there was the mansion where Alice and I stayed. That's where the mafia head Blood, his second in command the furry-hare/"dog" Elliot, and the gate keepers Dee and Dum which were twins lived." I said as I sniffed a bit. "Blood was Alice's boyfriend and I was with Elliot." I whispered and they gasped.

"Elliot was the guy you told me about?" Liz whispered and I nodded.

"Wait, who's Elliot?" James asked.

"He's Mattie's boyfriend." Liz explained and I looked down.

"He's a little more than my boyfriend at this point." I said and she tilted her head.

"Your lover?" She asked and I shook my head.

"More than that." I said and she looked confused.

"What do you mean?" She asked and I closed my eyes.

"Right before I was thrown back here I was going to tell him something important, but never got the chance." I said as I grabbed her hand and put it on my stomach." Her eyes were as big as saucers and James audibly gasped. "Yeah, I'm not completely sure, but I'm really late." I said and she quickly hugged me and I hugged her back. "I wanted to tell him so bad! But when I woke up I was back here! What if I never see him again?! What if he forgets about me?!" I cried as I held onto her.

"Shh, you have to calm down Mattie. Now, I'm sure we can figure out something." She said and was silently thinking.

"Wait, you two have mentioned something about a rabbit hole. What if it's still there?" James asked and I quickly straightened up.

"Of course! Why didn't I think of that!?" I yelled as I quickly climbed down and sprinted to my house. They kept up with me as I jumped over the front gate and past my sisters and brother-in-law as I sprinted as fast as my legs would take me to the trees behind our house. I ran around and looked everywhere.

"Do you see it?" Liz asked a few trees away and I shook my head as I kept my eyes open.

"What does the rabbit hole look like?" James asked.

"It's a giant black hole in the ground." I said as I ran around and looked everywhere. "It was right here." I whispered to myself as I walked around.

"Mattie, I don't think it's here anymore." Liz whispered gently and I started to let out silent cries.

"It has to be here." I whispered as I sunk to my knees in the exact spot where the rabbit hole was. I fisted the grass in my hands and squeezed my eyes shut. "It was right here." I said quietly as began to cry. I laid down and tucked my knees into my chest in the fetal position. I pressed my face against the grass as I cried. I could feel James pick me up and I hid my face into his shoulder as I shook with sobs. I felt him walk through the trees and through the little path that led to the other side of the little forest and to his back yard. His parents were probably out on business trips as usual and his siblings were in their own houses or at work. I could feel Liz pat my head and murmur soft words to me.

Elliot POV

I ran a hand through my hair as I growled. We searched through all of Wonderland with no sign of any of the girls. The circus disappeared a while ago, so there's no way they're there. We walked back to the mansion and the twins were sulking. Blood went to his study and I followed him.

"Hmm, well, there's nothing else to do then. The only explanation is that they've gone back to their world." He said and my eyes widened.

"But how?!" I exclaimed. He folded his hands and was deathly serious.

"This must be Nightmare's doing. Considering he hasn't spoken to any of us and he hasn't shown himself, we'll just have to wait until the move." He said as he crossed his arms. I slammed my hands on his desk.

"But that isn't for another 350 hundred time changes! Who knows what could've happened in their world by then! Time moves much faster for them than us!" I argued and he raised an eyebrow.

"I'm aware of that, but do you have a better idea because I'd like to hear it." He said standing up. I sighed and as I looked down. "You'll just have to be patient and wait." Blood said as I walked to the door. "I'm going to retire for the night, I suggest you do the same." He said as he left. I let out a breath as I walked to my room. I walked in and sat at my desk. I banged my fist down on the desk and was irked when my drawer slammed open and hit my knee I looked down and froze. Inside was a vile. I slowly picked it up and recognized it as Mattie's vile. She said she didn't want to carry it around so left it in my desk. I looked at the contents inside and my eyes widened.

It wasn't full all the way.

Which means Nightmare broke the rules.

Sure, it was almost full, but it still needed a bit more to complete the game. I'm willing to bet one of two things happened.

1) Alice's wasn't full either or 2) Alice's was full and Nightmare simply took Mattie with her.

I grinned. This means he has to bring them both back. I laid down and stared at the vile. I can bring Mattie back, but I need time. I hope she doesn't forget about me in her world.

EXTREMELY IMPORTANT TO READ THIS!

Alright guys! I did the math and figured that there are 5 time changes (night, dawn, morning, afternoon, and dusk), so 350 time changes would be about 70 days in Wonderland which is equal to about 2 months and a week. 2 months and a week in Wonderland equals about a year give or take in Mattie's world (in my story at least). So, Mattie's gonna have to wait an awful lot for Elliot. The main question now is,

Is she going to wait for him, or move on?